The size, and scale of Thorpe Park increased massively during the years post millennia.
Even after large additions like Colossus and Nemesis Inferno, the Tussauds company continued
to add new, and interesting rides, year upon year.
2004 saw the relocation of Samurai, a Mondial Top Scan, to Thorpe Park from Chessington
World of Adventures; while 2005 resulted the debut of Slammer, an S&S Sky Swat, and Rush,
an S&S Screamin’ Swing.
Unfortunately, Slammer one of only two Sky Swats around the world, closed in 2017 as
a result of being a continuous maintenance nightmare.
Three years after their previous large scale addition, Thorpe Park was constructing another
roller coaster.
The ride, Stealth, open to the public in 2006 as the UK’s fastest roller coaster.
The Intamin Accelerator propels riders to 80mph/129kmh in less than 2 seconds, before
causing them to climb a 205ft/62.5m high top hat.
Stealth has become an iconic part of the park’s skyline, due to its sheer size and scale.
The following year, the Tussauds Group, and all of its attractions, were purchased by
Merlin Entertainments.
After only a season of ownership, the Merlin began construction of yet another large scale
roller coaster.
In 2009, Thorpe Park debuted Saw: The Ride, the world’s first Horror themed roller coaster.
As its name suggests, the ride is themed to the franchise of Saw films, in which riders
are taken through a mixture of life threatening traps, in the hope that they escape the games
alive.
The roller coaster itself is a custom Gerstlauer Eurofighter, and features a maximum drop angle
of 100 degrees, which gained it the title of the world’s steepest coaster upon opening.
The themed nature of the ride marked a change in focus for the park, towards more detailed
and story-driven ride experiences.
To further capitalise on the debut of Saw The Ride, the park installed Saw Alive, a
year round horror maze next to its sister attraction, the following year.
In 2011, Storm Surge a spinning rapids ride, was relocated to Thorpe, from another Merlin
park.
Fortunately, a year later, the Chertsey park returned to investing into well themed, and
well placed, rides.
In 2012, Thorpe park debuted The Swarm, its single biggest investment at the time of opening.
At the cost of 18 million pounds, the ride became the UK’s first B&M wing coaster,
allowing riders to experience the unique sensation of being held over the sides of the track.
On the topic of detail, The Swarm is themed to an alien invasion.
The buildings surrounding the ride have been partially destroyed, as a war against the
alien’s rages on.
Guests are said to be abducted by the strange creatures and taken on a journey through the
disaster area, passing nearby billboards and buildings.
Despite a warm reaction to the coaster, with many praising it’s ride experience and theming,
attendance at the park fell.
To combat this, Thorpe Park reversed the final two rows of the Swarm, allowing guests to
‘brave it backwards’.
Unfortunately, this option no longer exists on the ride today.
As the park continued to invest in more themed experiences, Thorpe Park debuted Angry Birds
Land in 2014, an area themed to the popular Angry Birds mobile app.
The retheme of the area also saw the addition of a new dodgems ride.
The park invested further into IP related rides a single year later, with the addition
of I’m a Celebrity Get me out of here Maze, which allows guests to experience jungle like
trials as seen on the show.
With a large investment on the horizon, Thorpe Park began constructing a new thrilling dark
ride, opting against the addition of another roller coaster.
Prior to 2016, the park had lacked a dark ride for many years.
Therefore, it was welcomed when Thorpe announced Derren Brown's Ghost Train, a modern day ghost
train experience, involving virtual reality, motion simulation, and many more cutting edge
effects.
As its name suggests, the ride was a collaboration between the park and British mentalist, Derren
Brown.
Unfortunately however, due to the ride’s unique and one of a kind nature, the attraction
was incredibly unstable, often closing for large periods of time.
During the closed season, Thorpe Park began editing parts of the experience in the attempt
to improve its reliability.
As a result, the dark ride reopened for the 2017 season as the rebranded “Derren Brown’s
Ghost Train: Rise of the Demon”.
The changes not only improved the rides reliability, but also made the experience scarier and more
much succinct.
During its brief existence, Derren Brown's Ghost Train has divided the opinion of many.
Regardless, the attraction remains a world class ride, on the cutting edge of technology,
rendering it an experience unlike any other.
Most recently, the park has undergone a partnership with AMC, to bring guests “The Year of the
Walking Dead”.
Included within this year long event is the brand new retheme of the previous attraction.
In 2018, the family coaster X became the Walking Dead: The Ride, which takes guests into the
safe zone, in the attempt to avoid Zombie infection.
Besides the new retheme, visitors can experience a range of Walking Dead themed mazes, and
even hunt zombies in a laser weapon attraction.
At the end of each season, guests look forward to the beginning of Fright Nights, the park’s
annual Halloween horror event.
During the event, visitors can experience a whole range of mazes, all free of charge.
On top of this, opening hours are extended late into the night, giving guests the chance
to ride some of the park’s roller coasters in the dark.
Over the last two decades, Thorpe Park has expanded rapidly.
Once a humble collection of exhibitions has become a haven for thrilling roller coasters
and rides within the UK.
However, the quick transition into large scale additions, as well as continued expansion
of family offerings, leaves many to question the true target audience of the park.
With attractions such as Derren Brown's Ghost Train, and the Walking Dead: The Ride; it’ll
be interesting to see whether the park continues to produce darker themed rides in the future,
in the attempt to focus entirely on the thrill seeker market.